Comedians come in all shapes and sizes. This includes the size of their personality. Sure they are on stage making strangers laugh but the fact remains that all comedians have to perform if they want laughs even if it scares them. There is a reason why having a bad show is called dying on stage and having an amazing show is called killing or murdering. Comedians are not just introverts or extroverts they are a mix of both. It takes the insight of an introvert and the output of an extrovert to be a well-rounded comedian. Can you succeed if you are one or the other? Sure but either way you have to put in the work.
When you think of someone who would want to get up on stage and entertain strangers, you’re naturally going to think of the kind of person who is the life of the party, the center of attention, or the class clown. The kind of person who is always “on”, who will talk to complete strangers in public, and is always making everyone laugh. A clear extrovert. However, extroverts don’t necessarily make the best stand up comedians.
It seems like a juxtaposition to think of someone who gets on a stage to tell jokes in front of a group of people they’ve never met as shy, yet many are. Several stand up comedians are introverts and it makes sense. These are the people who pay attention to the world around them. By not always needing a spotlight on them everywhere they go, it gives them the ability to step back and observe what’s going on, and thus, the ability to write excellent observational comedy.
Introverts
Introverts are often more thoughtful, reflective and observant. Comedians like Woody Allen and Mitch Hedberg are notorious introverts. If a show wasn’t going well, Woody Allen would turn around and deliver his monolog to a wall, rather than face a difficult audience. Mitch Hedberg always wore sunglasses and closed his eyes on the stage. Yet, these two wrote absolutely hilarious and thoughtful jokes. Who else is going to be concerned at a restaurant that a group isn’t showing up for a table when their name is called? An extrovert is excited that they are going to get their food quicker. Mitch Hedberg wants to send out a search party! “The Dufresnes are in someone’s trunk right now, with duct tape over their mouths. And they’re hungry.”
Introverts also pay closer attention to the details, especially in everyday social encounters, and this makes for very relatable comedy writing. For example, Brian Regan’s bit about misusing the “you too phrase.” Everyone loves this bit because it’s so relatable. We’ve all done it! But only an introvert would have been so bothered by this social faux pas that he would write an entire joke about it. “Nobody look at me, I’m a moron!” Heck, he even turned that bit into a commercial for Coke. He’s a rich moron!
I have a very good friend, Luke Lacoy, (the co-host of The Clean Comedy Podcast) who actually got into stand up comedy and improv just so that he could overcome his social anxiety. He may not always feel comfortable on stage, but he forces himself to get up there and tell jokes and the things that he talks about are things I never would have noticed in the first place. he is so shy that he doesn’t even have one video of his stand up on the internet and he’s a funny guy.
In fact, a lot of comedians describe themselves as having some sort of social anxiety and prefer talking on a stage in front of a crowd or as a character to talking to someone one on one.
Audiences love moments that they can relate to, especially if the joke is about something they’ve never even thought about before, but do all the time. This is also why people love jokes about relationships so much. They are very relatable. Introverts are the best at turning seemingly normal relationship issues into comedy because they overthink them and see them in a light that we have probably never noticed before.
Extroverts
Some comedians are very outgoing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are comfortable or successful on stage. Too many people mistakenly believe that if they are good at making their friends laugh, they will be great comedians. Their friends often say, “You’re so funny, you should be a comedian.” This belief is often false because it assumes that just because you can make a small group of people with whom you are intimately acquitted laugh, you will be able to translate that to laughs on stage in front of a crowd. The art of stand up comedy is not the ability to make your friends laugh. It’s the ability to craft jokes to perfection and then get up on a stage and engage a whole audience of strangers in a hilarious way.
Extroverts have the obvious advantage of a natural ability to and enjoyment of talking to strangers. This helps them to become better at performing quicker. It also makes things like improvisation and crowd work. Since they naturally like to have everyone’s attention and are faster at thinking on their feet, giving them a mic and a willing crowd can often lead to hilarity. Another benefit of being an extrovert is that they seek out a large variety of social situations and environments that often lead to good writing material.
My good friend and very funny comedian, David Studebaker is about as extroverted as it gets. He loves attention from anyone, any time, anywhere. We recently went to a film festival in New York for a short film we made, and he couldn’t even get on the subway without trying to engage the other riders and start his own one-man show. He basically lives his life on stage. His own wife describes him as the loudest person she’s ever met and this all leads to some of the best showmanship on stage I’ve ever seen. David is able to instantly connect with the crowd and make everyone feel like a close, personal friend or long lost cousin. He can engage the audience and do crowd work better than just about any comedian I’ve worked with. David wants everyone to look at and listen to him and people are happy to do it.
So, while extroverts are less likely to have hangups about getting on stage and engaging a crowd full of people they’ve never met before, introverts often have better self-awareness and observational ability to craft jokes that we can all relate. These are often the most outlandish and loud comedians. While they are not for everyone they are often the ones most people know about. I guess being loud is good for something right?
Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, you have strengths that make you suited to stand up comedy. You simply have to recognize them and then hone them into comedy gold. In the end, the best comedian is the one that makes most people laugh.